Characterization of swarming and mating behaviour between Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles melas in a sympatry area of Benin

Abstract

The swarm structure of two sibling species, Anopheles gambiae coluzzii and Anopheles melas, was characterize to explore the ecological and environmental parameters associated with the formation of swarms and their spatial distribution. Swarms and breeding sites were searched and sampled between January and December 2010, and larval and adult samples were identified by PCR. During the dry season, 456 swarms of An. gambiae s.l. were sampled from 38 swarm sites yielding a total of 23,274 males and 76 females. Of these 38 swarming sites, 18 were composed exclusively of An. gambiae coluzzii and 20 exclusively of An. melas, presenting clear evidence of reproductive swarm segregation. The species makeup of couples sampled from swarms also demonstrated assortative mating. The swarm site localization was close to human dwellings in the case of the An. gambiae coluzzii and on salt production sites for An. melas. At the peak of the rainy season, swarms of An. melas were absent. These findings offer evidence that the ecological speciation of these two sibling species of mosquitoes is associated with spatial swarm segregation and assortative mating, providing strong support for the hypothesis that mate recognition is currently maintaining adaptive differentiation and promoting ecological speciation. Further studies on the swarming and mating systems of An. gambiae, with the prospect of producing a predictive model of swarm distribution, are needed to inform any future efforts to implement strategies based on the use of GMM or SIT.